Sunday, December 26, 2010

Reviewer's Tip - How NOT to Impress Reviewers, Part 2

Continuing the theme of things reviewers don't like to see (last time we talked about how NOT to impress with emails to review sites), here we go again. This time, we'd like to tell you some things that reviewers often see in self-published books (and to be fair, some mainstream books too). These came directly from one of Feathered Quill's reviewers. I hope to have more tips from other reviewers soon.

I don't like copycat books. For example, I don't want to see a Harry Potter imitation. I want to see something unique.

If the book has 1,001 characters, I want a cast list in the front.

Don't give me three names for the same person. Example: Daniel, Doctor D., Danny, Doc, Bones, etc. It makes the story difficult to follow.

If you use sidebars, try to insert them in a logical break in the text. Sometimes they totally interrupt a reading experience.